Casual Friday — "Apollo on Steroids"

Things may or may not play out this way, and it remains to be seen if political backing will stay in place, but the following video shows how the U.S.’s return to the moon is currently planned to work. The Ares V cargo launch vehicle will get an upper stage (the Earth Departure Stage) and lunar lander into orbit; this will be followed by an Ares I launching the crew to join it.

You can see why this scheme has been dubbed “Apollo on steroids” — aside from the dual launches, it’s very much a fancier version of its predecessor. More information on the Constellation home page here.